government discussion reply
1) State as accurately as possible the video’s purpose for presenting this information. Explain your analysis/answer in five (5) or more sentences.
The purpose of this video is meant to be informative. It shows how the NRA has grown through the years from a gun safety group to the most feared and powerful gun lobbying group in the U.S. Its influence on the political framework is one of the reasons gun control legislation has not succeeded. It sheds light on the thoughts of the victims of gun violence and mass shootings. This is evidenced in the parents of the victims of both the Columbine and Sandy Hook school shootings.
2) What is the video attempting to convey and from what perspective is it presenting the information? Provide your analysis/answer in five (5) or more sentences.
The video attempts to convey that the NRA should bear some responsibility for the mass shootings. Pro-gun control activists expect the NRA to use their power and influence to change policy that would require background checks before purchasing a gun. For example, the gun show loophole. However, the NRA’s answer is to arm the 'good guy in order to stop the bad guy' according to Mr. LaPierre. Perspectives from both sides as shown in the video are from the victims of shootings, pro-gun control activists, and former NRA members. Current members of the NRA declined to come on the show as shown in the video.
3) What key question can you develop from the content presented in the article? Provide your question and then your analysis/answer in five (5) or more sentences.
The key question developed from the content presented in the article is, what are the reasons for politicians to avoid the gun control discuss? The NRA uses people’s fears of losing their Second Amendment rights to motivate their political reasoning to fight against any politician who proposes or pushes for a pro-gun agenda. As evidenced in the video, most politicians avoid it because of the political consequences. In the 2000 elections, the NRA rallied their members with the ‘vote freedom first’ campaign, spending 20 million dollars to defeat Al Gore while President George W. Bush was elected. Even one of their own members Sen. Joe Manchin tried to push for gun control measures but was discredited by the NRA.
4) What are the most important ideas you would have to understand in order to understand the video’s line of reasoning? Provide your analysis/answer in five (5) or more sentences.
An important idea to understand in order to follow the videos line of reasoning is the easy access to guns due to relaxed gun laws. This easy access leads to the availability of firearms, which is partly to blame in the issue of gun violence. Another important idea to understand is the fact that due to the Second Amendment Right, Americans have the right to keep and bear arms. A platform which has been used by the NRA to push forward their agenda. Due to the problem of deadly mass shootings, the government has the power to implement gun control laws but are unable to do because of NRA’s influence as the most powerful lobbying group.
5) What is the video failing to address (what might be questioned)? Provide your analysis/answer in five (5) or more sentences.
The video fails to address whether closing the gun control loop hole might actually reduce the number of mass shootings in the U.S. It fails to mention if the NRA ever cared for gun safety after the Columbine school shootings. What was it that made the NRA go from a gun safety organization to a group that has so much power and influence on policies that promote gun rights without the safety? The video does not mention what motivated these shooters to commit mass shootings. Nor does it say their state of mind, whether they had a mental illness or a criminal background.
6) What consequences are likely to follow if people take the video’s line of reasoning seriously? Provide your analysis/answer in five (5) or more sentences.
There will be a Public Outcry. People might perceive the NRA as a group that only cares more about more, more than the lives of people. It draws a clear line between pro-gun control advocates and the NRA advocates, which could encourage people to take sides. In the video, the NRA undermines politicians who advocate or pass gun control measures. Which is why most politicians avoid the NRA and the gun control issue. If things continue this way, where the NRA is not ready to compromise, nothing will get done.
7) What consequences are likely to follow if people ignore the video’s reasoning? Provide your analysis/answer in five (5) or more sentences.
Many innocent lives and families will continue to get destroyed as a result of mass shootings. Ignoring the video’s reasoning will lead to no pressure on policymakers and the NRA. There will be no debate on gun control or how the NRA can promote gun safety measures without it affecting their Rights. School shootings and gun violence incidents will keep occurring, and innocent people will continue to get killed. The NRA will get blamed, and the vicious circle will continue.
8) Identify the key conclusions the video comes to and presents? Provide your analysis/answer in five (5) or more sentences.
The video concludes that the NRA succeeded in the fight against the gun control supporters. In the video, Sen. Manchin’s Bill for gun control was short of 5 votes, to vote down the legislation. This defeat ended the national effort to pass gun control laws. Every time a politician or the government tries to enact a Bill on gun control, the NRA sees it as a fight and as Larry Pratt (Gun Owners of America) suggests, that they cannot manage to lose this battle. Losing will essentially mean losing what makes gun owners Americans.
9) What facts, experiences, or data is the video using to support its conclusions? Provide your analysis/answer in five (5) or more sentences.
To support its conclusions journalists, parents of victims, policymakers, former NRA members, were interviewed. Images of the shooting incidents and those involved in the gun control battle were also used to support the conclusions in the video. As shown, the NRA leadership under Wayne Lapierre and the organization, are portrayed as having so much power and influence. Any group that comes out against them does not succeed. In the 2000 presidential elections between Al Gore and George W. Bush, the NRA mobilized its members and spent 20 million dollars to get Gorge Bush elected who was a conservative and a Republican candidate, while Al Gore who was a gun safety advocate, lost. Another fact is that the NRA grows stronger after each deadly shooting incident and have always maintained their rights and freedom to own guns. The issue of their Rights is brought up whenever there is a debate on gun safety.